Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: ACT.17 A Strategy That Never Existed (1)
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‘Why does Kang Dong-woon know about the Strategy King?’
That was impossible.
The Strategy King was another name I had in the real world.
Unless he was a real person, there was no way he could know of that existence.
‘Could it be?’
I looked down at Kang Dong-woon, his eyes peacefully closed.
Was Kang Dong-woon not a character from the game, but someone from the real world, like me?
It was possible.
The game only mentioned that the master here was an A-rank player; no other information was ever really provided.
Still, there were parts that didn't make sense.
When I was streaming ‘End of Apocalypse,’ I had a steady viewership for about the first month.
As I kept failing, the game's fleeting popularity waned, and viewers lost interest. Even so, I persisted, and the number of people watching dwindled until, a few months later, it hit zero.
If he had watched even the early stages of my ‘End of Apocalypse’ playthrough, he wouldn't have joined an unofficial guild.
Anyone who watched consistently for that first month would know that this situation was similar to the game and that choosing the ‘Evil’ alignment brought no benefits.
‘He could have joined the unofficial guild knowing all that.’
They existed in the game, too.
People who thought, "Ruin is ruin, and since the world's like this anyway, I'll live as I please."
It was no different for people who were originally from the real world.
This wasn't the first time I'd seen it.
Hadn't I experienced it myself several times already?
‘Still.’
Even so, the biggest problem remained.
A huge problem that I couldn't understand no matter how I looked at it.
The fact that Kang Dong-woon possessed stats that exceeded the limit.
That meant there was a high probability Kang Dong-woon wasn't a 2nd generation player like me.
‘It's a contradiction.’
To be a 1st generation player from the game, he knew about the real-world Strategy King.
To be a 2nd generation player, he possessed stats that surpassed the limit.
My face hardening, I opened the shop.
“Uriel.”
[Yes. What can I do for you?]
I summoned Uriel.
As always, she wore a smile that would put anyone at ease, but this time, it didn't work on me.
“Stat Limit Removal. Did anyone besides me buy that?”
[Pardon?]
Uriel's already large eyes widened even more.
[No. That item never existed in the first place. It was made available only for you to purchase, Kim Se-hyeon-nim.]
“Then, does anyone else know it exists?”
[No one. Others can't see it.]
“...I see.”
Angels don't lie.
At least, if what Uriel knew was correct, then her words were the truth.
My mind instantly felt like a jumbled mess.
[The 'Devil Who Mocks the Heavens' gives a meaningful smile.]
I quietly clutched the dimension stone in my pocket.
There was nothing I could do about that with the information I currently had.
I had too much to do to get bogged down by it.
‘Being able to control the virus to this extent means they might have even created a virus bomb.’
The Geumeumdal Guild appeared as villains, but they weren't the main antagonists.
They were supporting characters who served to complicate an already difficult situation.
But the situation was now drastically different from the game.
The existence of dimension stones, which weren't in the original game, had opened up a huge opportunity for the Geumeumdal Guild, who should have self-destructed while researching the virus.
And on top of that, ‘it’ would be appearing soon.
“...I need to move faster.”
I'll attack all the other main bodies without resting.
Ah, but before that, I need to deal with Choi Seo-hee.
Rrrr...
My phone rang in my other pocket.
I stopped on my way back to the building and took out my phone to check.
[Caller: Seong Woo-hyeon]
Seeing the caller's name didn't give me a good feeling.
He might have been calling to report on the subjugation of the Geumeumdal grunts, but I had a gut feeling it was something bigger.
-Se-hyeon-nim.
“Yes. What is it?”
-...It's just as you said, Se-hyeon-nim.
His voice was heavy.
I could immediately guess why he was calling.
So it's that.
I never knew I'd hate the saying ‘a bad feeling is never wrong’ this much.
“Is it that?”
-Yes.
Seong Woo-hyeon struggled to continue.
Instead, the urgent voices of others echoed clearly from the other end of the line.
-Hurry up and contact the other guilds! This isn't something one guild can handle alone!
-No way. How can the readings be...
Even without Seong Woo-hyeon saying anything, I knew.
I knew what was happening where he and the Jamryong Guild were.
As I remained silent, Seong Woo-hyeon let out a deep sigh and finally managed to speak.
-A dark red gate, with a risk level on a completely different scale from the existing red gates, has appeared at the location you mentioned.
So it's finally appeared.
The first appearance of the highest-difficulty gate, the ‘Ark Gate.’
-And we've confirmed the presence of a being inside that is emitting a virus even more potent than the previous one.
The newly appeared Ark Gate emits the virus at regular intervals.
It's only for a short burst, but it's far more lethal than before.
It's a taunt directed at the players.
The source of the virus is inside, so come and get it if you dare.
[Main Quest has been cleared.]
[You have been awarded 2000 Coins.]
[A Main Quest has been generated.]
[Ch.9 Plague]
He waits inside the gate.
If you do not answer his call, what awaits is a two-word fate: ruin.
A ruin more terrible than you could ever imagine.
Reward: 2500 Coins
There was no time limit displayed, but it was safe to assume there was one.
The longer the Ark Gate remained open, the larger the area of gate outbreaks and the greater their number would become.
The habitable area would shrink over time.
When it reached a point where players could no longer control it, the virus would spread unchecked, and it would effectively be the end.
Moreover, while this virus has a low transmission rate when someone is simply infected, the moment they die from it, a purple smoke escapes the corpse and rapidly infects the surroundings.
An even more lethal problem is that it enhances the existing virus to have the same effect.
It's so vicious that it mutates several times a day, making it impossible to create a cure.
Not quite a disaster-class being, but close to it.
This was the power of ‘him’ who waited inside the Ark Gate.
‘Since a cure can't be made, it's basically over at that point.’
But that didn't mean we could just rush in recklessly.
The only countermeasure right now is to block the virus using dimension stones or cylinders.
We need to secure a means to block the virus, at least until we can enter the gate and eliminate the source.
‘Wasn't there a storage room on the third floor where they kept all sorts of important things?’
Kang Dong-woon's form had already changed, making him difficult to recognize.
The virus, which also affected corpses, was gradually melting his entire body.
I reached out and clenched my fist.
Puffs of purple smoke were about to spread, but they were devoured by darkness and vanished without a trace.
‘The main body supplies the grunts with cylinders, so there should be a large stock in the warehouse.’
If I take those cylinders and hand them over to the guilds, the minimum requirement for entering the Ark Gate will be met.
Even if they took them and researched them, mass production would be impossible without dimension stones for materials.
In the end, I need to raid all the other main bodies and secure as many cylinders as possible before they catch on and disappear.
That itself would serve as a deterrent, preventing the Geumeumdal Guild from acting recklessly with the virus.
The Divine Doctor, I'll have to look for that old man soon, too.
-By the way, Kim Se-hyeon-nim. How did you know a gate like this would appear here?
“I found out by marking the locations of the virus-emitting gates on a map.”
The gates that had appeared irregularly until now were derivatives.
The result of overflowing power from inside the Ark Gate leaking out through the rifts known as gates.
By that principle, they can't form far from the source, the Ark Gate.
So, you just have to think in reverse.
“If you look closely at the locations of the gates, you can see they're randomly generated within a circular area around a certain point. That means there's a high probability the source is at that point.”
-I see...
Seong Woo-hyeon let out a sound of admiration.
-Then, Kim Se-hyeon-nim, you didn't just see it as a new gate pattern, but deduced that there was a separate source for this incident.
His words had a hidden meaning.
I chuckled and replied.
“It sounds like you're interrogating me.”
-Of course not. It was just such remarkable insight, I was wondering if you had any basis for thinking that way.
“Given what happened with the Disaster of Verdure, I wondered if it might be the same. That the virus-emitting gates were merely a precursor, and a main body with strength on a whole different level would appear.”
-You did mention that. I understand.
-Master! I've contacted all the other guilds! They've replied, suggesting a meeting as soon as possible, within an hour or two!
-Understood. Let's head back for now. Have the cleanup crew secure the perimeter and prevent anyone from approaching... Ah, Se-hyeon-nim. Would you like to attend the meeting as well?
A meeting about the future, prompted by the appearance of the Ark Gate.
I need to drop several important pieces of information there, pretending I deduced them, to increase my influence.
However, I had something more urgent to do right now.
“I'll attend if I have time. Just text me the location of the meeting.”
Beep.
I ended the call.
Before I could even turn off the screen, a text with the meeting location arrived.
It was a familiar place.
‘First, I should secure the cylinders.’
As expected, the warehouse was lined with dozens of cylinders.
There were also unused MV guns.
There wasn't a single one that had collected the virus, perhaps because Kang Dong-woon had managed them alone.
He did shatter them all right before he died.
That might be for the best.
I swept every last one into my inventory and immediately headed to the lobby where Choi Seo-hee was lying.
“Ugh...”
“You've been lying there for a while. I didn't think you liked sleeping on the floor.”
“Ugh!?”
The moment she heard my voice, her eyes flew open and she rolled backward.
She tried to stand, but upon realizing her limbs were tightly bound, she started glaring at me with fierce eyes.
“Why'd you keep me alive? Think you have something to gain? Ha, too bad for you. I'll bite my tongue and die before you can do anything, so don't get your hopes up...”
“The seal.”
At the mention of that single word, Choi Seo-hee's mouth froze open.
The thing that was suppressing Choi Seo-hee's power, who was originally S-rank.
It was a seal that couldn't be released by her own will, and was structured so that if the caster died without undoing it, it could never be broken.
“The Geumeumdal Guild will be finished soon. And the one who placed that seal on you will die too.”
“...So what?”
“If he dies while the seal is still on you, you'll never be able to remove it. I'm sure you know that.”
Choi Seo-hee was silent.
She would have to live her entire life as a B-rank, with no way to return to her original state.
Unable to even grow stronger.
She was destined to gain a fortuitous opportunity and obtain greater power later on, but there was no reason to tell her that.
“That seal, I can undo it for you.”
“What did you say?”
Slightly surprised, Choi Seo-hee soon scowled and whipped her head away.
“This isn't something someone else can undo. Cut the crap.”
“What if I can?”
“Even if you could, you wouldn't just undo it for free, would you?”
“That's true. So, are you just going to live with the seal on you forever?”
“Hah... Fine. What do you want? Let's hear it.”
“It's simple. Just make a contract with me.”
Normally, a portion of her power would be restricted like it was now, and she could only use her original power with my permission.
She could never harm an ally under any circumstances, and could only attack targets I recognized as enemies.
In return, I would help her get the seal removed.
After hearing the whole story, Choi Seo-hee's brow furrowed.
“In the end, nothing changes for me, does it? No, this is actually worse.”
“No, it's different. Because I will never die.”
Because I have to live to see the end.
I absolutely cannot die until I reach the true ending.
“Urgh...”
Choi Seo-hee was conflicted for a long time before finally accepting.
“Fine, let's make a contract! It's better than being like this for the rest of my life.”
“A good choice.”
I smiled faintly and proceeded with the contract using a scroll I bought from the shop, just like I did with Jeong Ha-yeon.
A large number of coins were paid, and Choi Seo-hee, finally grasping the situation, let out a furious scream, but it was already too late.
You should always read the contract carefully.